The things we do for our fish!

[Steve]

Well I was one of the unlucky ones that lost power during the ice/snow storm the other day. I have no idea why the area I live in is so bad about losing power but I swear if you sneeze too hard the power goes out on this block. I bet we lose power on average about 2-3 times per year sometimes for hours others for a day or two. So after watching my two 55g's get down to 67 degrees, my 10g beta/cory tank get down to 65F and my grow out tank with BNP which is downstairs get down to 59F I decided enough was enough. A trip to Lowes and I now have a brand new 1700/2000w generator which will be used just to power the aquariums in the event of losing power again.

It definitely hurt the wallet having to unexpectedly drop $300 like that but I figure it's better to lose $300 now than $500+ worth of fish later. And as much as we lose power at least now I won't have to worry about my fish next time it happens.

[linuxrulesusa]

Plus you can always hook up a toaster oven and have a hot sandwich. 

Kepe an eye on the fish as they may be susceptible to ich after that drastic a temp drop.  Sorry you lost power, glad it worked out OK so far.

[Ron]

This is the one thing I've been putting off for a long time. I have a small, old generator my parents gave me, but it hasn't been started in years and years, so I'm not so hopeful it'll actually start if I tried to use it. I've been meaning to pickup a bigger one ... just haven't had a power outage that forced me to do so yet. Probably jinxed myself now. 

[danielratti]

This is the one thing I've been putting off for a long time. I have a small, old generator my parents gave me, but it hasn't been started in years and years, so I'm not so hopeful it'll actually start if I tried to use it. I've been meaning to pickup a bigger one ... just haven't had a power outage that forced me to do so yet. Probably jinxed myself now. 

If it doesn't start and after we get the whole house thing situated I can always head out that way and get it going for you. I have a big one I use at work and someone decided to powerwash it this summer and let me tell you about tearing it apart in a snowstorm to figure out why it wouldn't start...

[Ron]

Thanks for the offer, I'll keep it in mind, but ideally I'd like to purchase a larger one someday before "the day".

[danielratti]

Right on if I see anything for cheap up here ill pass it on to you. I got a buddy who is a retired.cop that has.stuff he fixes up all the time for cheap.

[theoryguru]

Glad to know alls well Steve.
I have a 1100w camping generator, although the other day I thought about how many of those
[hand] heat packs, ziplocked, it would take to keep my 125g within proper range.  Let's hope I don't have use either.

[Marty]

To anyone that is looking to purchase a portable generator, my recommendation is to buy a Honda if you can afford one.  With the times the way they are, pawn shops are always worth a call.

When I was in the construction business, the Honda generators we had were the most reliable and handled the higher workload the longest in the crappiest of conditions.  The worst problem I can recall having with one was a fuse that had to be replaced.

[four_by_ken]

When I moved to where I currently am at... I also bought a generator.  Power going out is not uncommeon and because it is not a densly populated area, we are not the first to get power back.

I have a 5500/8000 Briggs and Stratton generator.  It will pretty much power our entire house.  I need to set it up so that its easier to plug the entire house in, but it does the trick now very nice.

A month or so when power went out for a few days, all 5 tanks (heaters and filters) were running just fine.  Furnace on, fridge and Dish Network up and going.  We were all set.

Oh we have well water also, so we needed the generator for running water too.

[54zamboni]

An electrician friend helped me set up mine -- we moved the "essential" circuits, such as water pump, furnace, water heater (power vent requires elec. to operate),  bathroom lights, tv, refrigerator, and of course fish room to a subpanel -- when the power goes out, flip a lockout switch in the main panel, plug in and fire up the generator,  and the generator powers only  the essential circuits without feeding power back into the main panel and power lines.  you can tell when the power is restored as the other circuits in the house will come back on.  not that i'm speaking from experience or anything, but make sure you have plenty of gas on hand.   

[Maize-N-Blue-D]

I live on the Romeo / New Haven border,  just south of me is 27 mile rd that is fed by the New Haven grid,  Thankfully I am on the Romeo grid.  My in-laws live on 27 mile and he had to instal a whole home generator.  The big one that will take care of the entire house.  When the power goes off, this thing kicks on automatically.  Thier system goes down at least once every month.  I have a 7000 watt portable generator hooked up to a by-pass panel with all the critical circuits (Well, Funace, sump, Fridge, a bank of plugs to run the TV). I had a licensed electrician come in and hook everything up. Best $200 I ever spent.  The problem is the Aquarium is not connected to any of those circuits,  so when the day arives I will be running a 100 ft extension cord to my den to run my aquariums. 

Living out in the country has it's benifits,  the well water is perfect for my aquariums,  I'm just so very glad that I am north of 27 mile so I am not dealing with frequent power outages.

[Steve]

Speaking of "grids" I'll tell you guys what REALLY sucks. On my street I live on the south side of the street and this side of the street must be the last street on the grid because the houses 50ft across from me on the North side of the street still have power when ours on this side goes off. You have any idea how mad it makes me to lose power and then look across the street and see power to all those houses lol

[danielratti]

Walk into there house with a long extension cord and plug it in. There you go you have free power.

[Steve]

Walk into there house with a long extension cord and plug it in. There you go you have free power.

LOL Makes me think of Danny Devito in that movie "Deck The Halls" where he taps into the power from across the street to run his Christmas lights.....

You're stealing my power?! I knew it!!...

BORROWING not stealing, the cord goes both ways so I was gonna shoot it right back after the holidays

 

[Steve]

I was gonna say this before, but will now....

Now that I have this generator. If anyone here on this website loses power and could use a generator, I will lone it to ya. I wont just loan it to any stranger lol...But if someone I know/respect like Tony, Marty, Rich, Blair.....guys that I i can trust will tell me its okay to lone it to "....". Then as long as one of them guys tells me its okay, then I'm fine with loning out my generator to someone if your power goes out and you need it to help your fish.